actually best bang for your buck is the FX5700 ultra, a good $80 cheaper than the 9600XT and faster infact is almost as fast as the FX5900 ultra.
no doubt the reason for nvidia giving IBM the contract for the new FX-2 Series...
and really you should be putting the RadeonXT 9800 against the GeForceFX 5950 Ultra.
Not that the specs provided are accurate, for one the RXT is a .13 chip... add to this the FX5900ultra runs at 500mhz core, RXT at 525mhz core.
though the RXT9800 is outperforming the FX5950U right now, it is hardly by a big margin and certainly not worth the $100+ extra it costs.
not that it matters cause the new generation are much better and closer than you think.
March just before E3 nvidia are releasing the information on the new board and processors, gonna be interesting to see what ATi make of it. Matrox's new offering looks pretty good, and Sonic Blue (now S3 again, wish they'd make up thier mind) has actually just release a new card range which are actually pretty bloody quick buggers for your buck too.
Still fall short of the top spot, being as powerful and the top dogs midrange - but still shows some hope that S3 might make something more impressive for the next round ^_^
Detonating a nuclear device within the city limits results in a $500 fine!
900mhz|256mb|FX5200Ti 52.16|Dx9|WXP-Pro